Some Final Paper Resources, Part 3: Cultural Significance of Comics

For those of you interested in exploring the cultural significance of comics, there are many articles and discussions about how comics both mirrored and challenged the ideas of race, gender, and equality that were present throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. We discussed this a bit in class, and looked at how a comic like Lois Lane: Superman's Girlfriend tried to explore the issue of race and romance, or how the X-Men tried to embrace ethnic and sexual difference via the metaphor of mutants. Using the EBSCO search bar on our library's website, I found some great articles about superhero comics and gender, notably the one below, which shows how a specific comic, during its 20-year run, reflected the changing ideas of gender in the 20th century.

The article is entitled "Superman Believes That a Wife's Place is in the Home" by Michael Goodrum, and it's a more complicated discussion that you might think. While the comic book started out as pretty stereotypical, it graduated to tackling some heavier issues, especially since it wasn't strictly canonical, so whatever story lines the comic tackled didn't have to affect Superman's master narrative. You can find the article here: https://0-eds-p-ebscohost-com.library.ecok.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=12&sid=b506a6c7-5a02-4e2d-99b2-5ee5720cdb3c%40redis (you'll have to log into ECU if you're off campus). 

You can find a lot more like this if you search around, so if this doesn't work for you, keep looking! Good luck! 

Some Final Paper Resources, Part 2: The Ethics of Superheroes

Another resource for those of you planning to tackle Option #1, The Ethics of Superheroes. One of the biggest ideas to consider in these comics is how far can a superhero toe the line between heroism and villainy? Can a superhero kill, even in the case of a dangerous psychopath like The Joker? These arguments really come to the fore in Moore/Bolland's infamous comic, The Killing Joke, which is all about the ethics of the superhero genre. However much it might cross the line in other regards, most people believe that it maintains the classic Batman who refuses to kill The Joker even after he commits the most horrific acts.

And yet, an article that I found via Wikipedia's entry on The Killing Joke in the bibliography might put an interesting spin on this interpretation. Entitled, "On Interpreting The Killing Joke's Ending (and Authorial Intent) it suggest that Batman does kill the Joker, and offers a very compelling reading of the images to prove it. You can read the article here, and it might challenge your conception of the superhero genre: On Interpreting The Killing Joke’s Ending (and Authorial Intent) | Sequart Organization (archive.org)

There are many great articles in the biblography of this Wikipedia page, and in general, the links in Wikipedia are a great way to do research--especially for comics, since sometimes articles on specific works/authors can be tricky to find. Good luck! 

Some Final Paper Resources, Part 1: Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom

For those of you interested in Option #3 on the Final Paper (see assignment in the post below), the Comic Book League Defense Fund website (cbldf.org) has numerous resources to help you consider the literary and artistic merits of graphic novels. Here's a link to their page which consists of several 'case studies' of particular graphic novels that can work well in the classroom: http://cbldf.org/using-graphic-novels/

This list features many comics that are not, strictly speaking, superhero comics, though there is one big exception: Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson, which features one of Marvel's first female Muslim superheroes. It's a great series that avoids political grandstanding for a strong story and an engaging character that has become very popular in the Marvel universe (and will be in a Marvel film before long!). Here's a link to that particular essay: http://cbldf.org/2015/04/using-graphic-novels-in-education-ms-marvel/

There are also other links on the site about comics censorship, banned books, and guides to starting a graphic novel collection in your classroom. You'll find more than you possibly need here to engage with the ever-expanding conversation on comics in the classroom! 

Monday Recap (Monstress)

REMEMBER that the Short Paper and Presentation are both due Tomorrow (Tuesday)! The paper isn't due until 5pm, but the presentation is either due in class or on the Flipgrid site by class time. I'm happy to play the Flipgrid presentation for the class if you don't mind, but if you would rather only me see it, just let me know. 

In today's class, we discussed what made Monstress, a comic from Image Comics, different from the works we read by Marvel and DC. One of the most obvious aspects was that the comic features almost solely women, and almost all are depicted as Asian, even though it takes place in a fantasy universe. This reflects the author's own struggle to self-identify through her fiction, as she explains in a recent interview:

"I grew up loving epic fantasies, and almost all of them were written by white men. With white, mostly male, casts. When you’re a kid, you don’t always think about what that means, but you do as you get older. I was deeply immersed in Chinese culture in my community and my family growing up, so how come when I was writing fiction as a kid, all my stories were about white people? Even though my personal life was incredibly diverse, my imaginary life was very white.”

The book also reminds us that superheroes (or comics, for that matter) are not a genre unto themselves. Rather, they are an approach that leads to many different possible genres: fantasy, science fiction, action-adventure, horror, romance, etc. Monstress uses typical world building and tropes from fantasy novels, as people familiar with Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and others will recognize. What makes the comic unique is how it expresses the familiar characters and tropes through the medium of comics, and how this challenges and expands our perceptions of the genre.  

After the break, we also looked at the historical representations of race and diversity in comics--or rather, the utter lack of it. Initially, racial minorities were always employed as villains: the Japanese in WWII, and later, the Chinese as evil communists (both Captain America and Wonder Women fought them). African Americans were depicted as humorous, buffoonish caricatures, and were often depicted in blackface (a white person wearing black makeup), since this was part of many white comedians' routines. By the late 60's, however, comics were starting to realize that many of their money came from urban readers who were not white Americans. 

To appeal to these readers, Marvel especially created lines of comics featuring diverse protagonists such as Falcon, Black Panther, and Shang-Chi. Though they relied heavily on stereotypes even here ("The Fortune Cookie Spells Death!"), it was at least a way to allow minorities to see themselves mirrored, at last, in their favorite comics. And you probably remember DC's disastrous attempt at racial awareness in the comic, Lois Lane: Superman's Girlfriend (at left). Yikes! 

Today, we have greater representation and much more true diversity, as we no longer simply have white writers and artists showcasing their idea of blackness, etc. Now, some of the leading African-American, Latino, Asian, Muslim, and queer writers are creating their own heroes on their own terms. The question is, are they simply superheroes and part of their respective universes, or will they continue to be seen as a subclass of hero, something that supplements the 'real' teams and heroes. 

Final Paper Assignment--due Friday, December 31st!

Eng 4983: Superheroes as Literature

Final Paper Assignment

Option #1: The Ethics of Superheroes: While Superman is the prototypical superhero, even he has origins in the supervillain, as every superhero has the potential to become a monster. As superheroes have grown up in comics, their ethics have become more clouded, and the pursuit of justice a much less black and white affair. Using some of the comics in class, discuss what the ethics of a superhero seem to be today. What constitutes a heroes morality? What are the extremes? The gray areas? What lines still haven’t been crossed (if any)? Do you think they’ve already gone too far into enemy territory?

Option #2: The Cultural Significance of Comics: Though comics have always been a ‘low’ art form, printed on cheap paper and considered disposable, they have not only proved extremely durable, but reflected the social and cultural movements of American life. Through comics, we can see many of the struggles of American society, and particularly, the fears, dreams, biases, and conflicts that shape our nation’s history. How do some of the comics in class reflect our past and current cultural moment? What do they say about us as individuals and as a nation? How can superheroes be a mirror and a metaphor for who we are today?

Option #3: Comics in the Classroom:  When comics were attacked in the 1950’s, Frederic Wertham derided them as totally without educational merit, and predicted that they would create “mass illiteracy” in society. On the contrary, comics have inspired many kids to become great readers and often share a beneficial relationship with both traditional art and literature. Nevertheless, they are not welcomed wholeheartedly into the classroom, and many teachers continue to think of them as dangerous to young readers. How might we invite comics into the modern-day curriculum at any level, and what advantage might teachers find in using comics to teach literacy, history, culture, symbolism, style, etc.? How are some teachers already doing this today?

OUTSIDE SOURCES: I want you to plug into what other people are saying and thinking about comics as well, so I want you to do a little research for this assignment. Below are some great sources you can use to find the ‘conversation’ behind comics. You should have at least 2-3 sources besides the comics in class, which will give you more to write about, and more to think about.

·        ComicsResearch.org (a site full of academic and popular content)

·        ComicsResearch.org/blog (a blog full of comics news and events)

·        Cbldf.org  (Comic Books Legal Defense Fund: a site about banned comics and other comics-related issues)

·        Lambiek Comiclopedia (an on-line encyclopedia of comics: http://lambiek.net/artists/index.htm)

·        Don’t forget, too, to search through EBSCO through the library’s website, or even Google Scholar, for articles on your topic. The links and bibliography in Wikipedia articles is also a useful source for research.

·        You can also cite the blog from class as one source, just be sure to look up how to cite blogs and other online content here: Purdue OWL // Purdue Writing Lab

FINAL PAPER DUE Friday, December 31^st by e-mail. I will respond to your paper with a rubric and comments within a few days, along with your final course grade. Please e-mail me with any questions!

Recap for Friday (Black Cat)

Two things: don't forget to read Monstress, Vol.1 for Monday's class, and remember that the doors may be locked tomorrow. I'll be there early to prop them open for you, but if for any reason you find the door locked/closed, just wait and I'll make sure everyone can get in for class. 

On Friday, we discussed the history of gender in comics, and in particular, the role of women. Traditionally, comics, like literature, catered to a male audience, so women were usually depicted in supporting roles, though more often as "damsels in distress" or trophies to be won (or lost). Heroes were always male, and women supported their men from the sidelines, and were invariably weak and caused trouble for the heroes (ex: Lois Lane was always getting into trouble, and was constantly distracting him with her romantic overtures). 

Wonder Woman was one of the few exceptions to the rule, though she was often a damsel in distress herself, since most of the storylines involved her getting taken captive, tied up, and tortured until she broke free and saved the world (and herself). While it was a step forward to see her save herself, and her boyfriend, Steve Trevor, her comics still depict a woman as an object--even if that object is stronger than most men reading the comic! 

In the 60's and 70's, as comics began to reflect changing trends in society, many female superheroes got their own comics and/or joined the more established male teams. However, most of these women were known as "girl" (Supergirl, Batgirl, Invisible Girl), and only a small number had stories beyond the traditional damsel in distress of woman in bondage routine. A notable exception was The Wasp, one of the original founders of The Avengers, who often acted independently of the men--though even she was depicted as infatuated with Thor, and ultimately became the wife of Henry Pym (Ant Man, Giant Man).

A recent study by Amanda Shendruk analyzed over 30,000 comic book characters to see whether gender was really a factor in comics (hint: it is). Here's a link to the entire article: https://pudding.cool/2017/07/comics/. Basically, she determined that "Only 26.7 percent of all DC and Marvel characters are female, and only 12 percent of mainstream superhero comics have female protagonists...The data suggest that less-physical powers — such as empathy, intellect, and telepathy — tend to be more represented among female characters...Pheromone control — the ability to generate and control pheromones that affect emotional and physical states, such as sleep, fear, and pleasure — occurs five times as often in a female character. Sonic scream appears in twice as many female characters as male; and prehensile hair — the ability to control one’s own hair — appears in female characters seven times more often." 

So where does this leave us today? Black Cat offer a female protagonist who does not have a love interest, has her own powers (is bad luck gendered??), and solves problems with the help of men, but without relying on them, either. True, she still wears a very sexualized outfit, but she also takes it off and appears in a relatively 'normal' fashion. She makes light of her sexual origins (since Black Cat was created to be a romantic foil for Spiderman), and yet, the comic seems to be trying to re-create her in a more modern image. It's a fun comic, maybe not a resounding blow for modern feminism, but it does show that women can be superheroes without relying on sex as a superpower. 

For Friday: Black Cat & Thursday Recap

Read Black Cat. Vol.1: Grand Theft Marvel for class on Friday, and do the usual Template Responses. We're almost done with the class already! So start thinking about your paper/presentation, due NEXT TUESDAY (not on Monday, as the schedule says--go with the date on the assignment sheet).

In today's class, we talked a bit about the context of Marvel comics, which came out of the exciting youth culture movement of the 1960's. Before this, comics had hit an all-time low, as the Comics Code of 1954 virtually outlawed anything exciting or adult in comics. After WW2, many soldiers returned home reading comics (since they were easy to read and transport on the battlefield), and they wanted more mature subject matter. So crime, romance, and horror comics dominated the field, which were also being read by young children! Dr. Frederic Wertham, a pioneer for censoring the arts, led a campaign to ban the worst comics, and helped create the Comics Code.

Here are a few things that the Comics Code prohibited:

•
No comic magazine shall use the word horror or terror in its title.

• All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.

• In no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.

• Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.

• Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.

• All characters shall be depicted in dress reasonably acceptable to society.

• Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.

This made most comics have to present very boring and childish subject matter to stay on the right side of the code. But in the early 60's, Stan Lee, a budding comics creator, decided to try his own brand of story that would be 'safe' but also appeal to the youth culture that had banded together around Beat poetry and rock and roll. Marvel comics created a series of characters that reflected the kids and teenagers who were still reading comics, and made comics as accessible and 'cool' as The Beatles, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix (among others). As Lee wrote, 

"The characters would be the kind I could personally relate to: they’d be flesh and blood, they’d have their faults and foibles, they’d be fallible and feisty, and—most important of all—inside their colorful, costumed booties they’ve still have feet of clay.’”

This is what distinguished Marvel from DC and other companies initially: they wanted stories that reflected real life and were aware of social issues--from racism, women's rights, social conformity, and government authority. Not surprisingly, many of the characters are fighting a war on two fronts: against the bad guys, and against a society that doesn't accept them, either because they're too young, or mutants, or robots, or simply too dangerous for polite society. This is certainly the case with Vision, who has saved the world 37 times(!), but can't really be trusted in a suburban neighborhood, with his synthesoid family that he created like a modern-day Victor Frankenstein! 

Many of the themes of the comic can be linked to modern day issues that have nothing to do with superheroes, such as:

* Racism: having "those people" move into the neighborhood

* Police power: Vision's job is to save the world, and sometime believes that this allows him to transgress certain moral and social laws; after all, if he saved every single human being on the planet, can we ever say 'no' to him? 

* Being human: how do we define 'humanity'? Is it universal, or local? Absolute or subjective? Could a robot learn to feel like we do? Do we have a monopoly on love? Family? And is "our" culture the only one who feels this way?

* Doing the 'right' thing: when does the right thing for society conflict with the right thing for your family? Isn't it the duty of every man and women to protect their loved ones? Should you sacrifice your family--or yourself--for the general good? Isn't Vision being asked to sacrifice those he loves to be an Avenger? 

We also looked at some word + image transitions, to show how complex this book is in telling stories that change depending on the dialogue and narration. Remember that when you add words to a picture, it changes the picture forever. You no longer see the same image.